TCC Podcast #306: So You Want to Become a Screenwriter? with Jamie Jensen

On the 306th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast, Jamie Jensen makes her second appearance on the show. Jamie is a copywriter, screenwriter, creative coach and some-day showrunner. Jamie’s many lives have led her to her absolute passion of screenwriting and helping other multi-passionate creatives discover how to balance it all. Here’s how the conversation went: What’s the difference between hitting a wall and burnout? Walking away from something that’s going well? How to create a step by step process for what comes next. Why you need to give yourself permission to be messy. The balance between business person and artist. What goes into the screenwriting process? The importance of allowing yourself to be bad at your craft. The shift in the screenwriting industry – what have been the effects of streaming? What goes into Jamie’s writing process? Why you should treat your projects like relationships – projects as people? What are work retreats all about? What’s a pilot vs a screenplay? How to get into screenwriting. How to get a lot done in a short amount of time. What is it like to work with an editor? How does it help improve the writing process? Dabbling into new projects and passions… How do we balance it all.Read the transcript below or hit that play button. The people and stuff we mentioned on the show: Join the Accelerator  Join the Flip the Switch Workshop The Copywriter Think Tank Kira’s website Rob’s website Jamie's website  The Copywriter Club Facebook Group The Copywriter Underground Free month of Brain.FM Episode 62   Full Transcript: Rob Marsh:  This is the 306th episode of The Copywriter Club Podcast. And if you've been here since the beginning, you've certainly noticed some themes that tend to recur as we've interviewed nearly 300 copywriters. Obviously, we like to ask about things like prospecting and sales calls teams, and all the things that copywriters do in their business so that you can borrow or steal an idea or two to use in your own businesses. So it's a little surprising when we stumble across a topic that we've never addressed before. And today's guest on the podcast is copywriter, screenwriter, creative coach, and someday showrunner, Jamie Jensen. When we invited Jamie to the show, we thought we'd be talking more about the changes that she's made in her business since we interviewed her a few years ago, but we discovered something that we've really never talked about before on the show. And so while today's episode does address Jamie's business and how it's evolved, it's also a primer on writing for TV and cinema. Kira Hug:  But before we get to Jamie's interview, we just want to share a final announcement that today is the last day to join the Copywriter Accelerator Program before we shut the doors and kick off this program this September. So if you have any interest in building your business, so you have consistent income processes that help you feel really confident about what you're doing. So it's easier to sell what you're doing. This is a great program. A lot of the conversation today with Jamie is about creative pursuits in writing. And I think most of us have some creative ideas that we're inspired to work on, but it's tricky to do that if we don't have a business that's running and providing consistent revenue. So we're not stressing over paying our bills and stressing about where our business is going to go. And so the Accelerator Program is actually a really nice fit for people who just need a workable business. That feels really good to them and is something they could depend on so that they can pursue those projects, whether it's writing or something else and shape their life around, or I guess, shape the business around their life rather than vice versa. So today's the last day we hope we can work with you. If you have any interests, you can find out more information in the show notes. Rob Marsh:  And like you were saying, Kira, if you've struggled at all with your business over the last year, if things just don't feel quite right, or you feel they could be running smoother, this is the time to go through the Accelerator and get it all set up, so that January 1st you're ready to rock and roll for the new year. So I know we're still a ways away from thinking about the new year, but it's not that far away. And if people want their businesses to work the right way, they should definitely check out thecopywriteraccelerator.com. Okay. Let's hear about how Jamie has transitioned her business since the last time that we talked on the podcast. So Jamie catches up. It has been a long time. So he is talking on the podcast since we saw you in San Diego on stage at IRL. Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. We went in a time machine called COVID-19. Rob Marsh:  Yeah. Seriously. What has been going on in your life and your business? Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Thank you. So many things. I made a decision late last year and just to ground us in time, we're in August 2022 now. And so late 2021, probably around October, I made a decision to burn everything down in my business. And the irony of this is that that's the second time in my eight, nine years in business that I have done something like that. But this was a more... I'm going to just speak in my truth and not worry so much about whether the languaging I use makes sense. I'll just let you ask me questions if it doesn't, but there was just a truth in my body where I felt I hit this brick wall and so much of what I had been building and working on just felt like a no. Rob Marsh:  So, yeah. Let's talk about that because, I mean, there's burnout where you're tired or you struggle, but usually, it doesn't feel like everything is a no. Jamie Jensen:  Yup. Rob Marsh:  A total 180 do over tear-it-all-down. Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Rob Marsh:  I mean because you've done. You've had both. Jamie Jensen:  Yes. Rob Marsh:  You've been burned out before and not torn everything. Jamie Jensen:  Totally. Absolutely. Rob Marsh:  What was the difference? Jamie Jensen:  Well, the difference here was that I could feel that there was one thing in my business that felt true for me. It felt like, "I love doing this, I could do this forever." It was the one offer I was holding that I most loved. I was most excited to show up and that I felt I could do endlessly forever and I never got tired of it. And everything else felt like I was pumping from a place of emptiness to go through with it, even though it was really smart. And even though it was valuable and it was offering value to folks, it was just something that in me, when I got up to try to do marketing for it, or when I got up to try to create content for it, I kept hitting a wall. And it wasn't for lack of anything that I had built not working. It certainly wasn't at the scale that I had dreamt it would be, but I hadn't really gotten to that spot yet. Specifically, I'm talking about a program called Create Your 6-Figure Copywriting Business, which I had been working on at the time for a year and a half-ish. And I loved the program. I loved the clients. I loved the content. I loved everything that it had to offer. And it was something that I had probably put the most of myself into in terms of what I was offering in my business. And I believed in it. But there was just something about it that felt like a no for me to continue offering it in the way that I wasn't to try to build something to scale on the foundation of that offer. It just was not, there was something in it that was like, "I love these humans who are showing up for this. I love the results they're getting. And this just feels like a no. And a lot of the other products that I had created around copywriting no longer felt true for me." And the way that I describe that is it wasn't just burnout. It was this coming to a place of truth and honestly, deeply feeling the grief of that, it wasn't like, "Oh, I made this decision," and then it was just easy. I was really sad. I really had to grieve it. It's like that it was just what was true. Rob Marsh:  Yeah. I mean, as I hear you talk about this too, I can think of other people I know who have done something similar, but usually, they're just like, "Oh, I don't love the work," or like, "What I'm doing is crap," and that is not what you're saying, because the stuff that you created is, I mean, it's awesome. Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Rob Marsh:  I've seen the stuff that you were selling. Jamie Jensen:  I know. Rob Marsh:  It is really good. And when you had your agency, which I think we talked about last time you were on the podcast. Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Rob Marsh:  Your agency was really good, right? Jamie Jensen:  Thanks. Rob Marsh:  So how do you walk away from something that's good, but not right as opposed to- Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Rob Marsh:  ... "This just doesn't, it's not good, and it's easy to walk away." Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. Rob Marsh:  Talk about that. I mean, I guess it's grieving, right? Jamie Jensen:  Yeah. It is. Yeah. It's a grieving process. I think for me, how do you walk away from it? You just create a plan, a step-by-step short plan that goes, I've said this to a lot of clients, because I tend to work with a lot of folks who are in transition or wanting to pivot. And ironically, ever since I shut my agency down, I've had a lot of clients that I've coached around the process of transition and pivoting. Rob Marsh:  Uh-huh. Jamie Jensen:  And the thing that I'll say about it is, I think that you have to set realistic expectations for a transition and create a step-by-step plan for how you want to handle that. I terminated a lot of client agreements, contracts, and relationships for a period of time to really create space, to discover what wanted to come next.